FAMILIES of OSU crash victims entitled to more than $700,000

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The families of 10 men killed in the Oklahoma State plane crash are entitled to more than $700,000 from the university and the NCAA, documents show. <br><br>The money is in addition

Saturday, August 25th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The families of 10 men killed in the Oklahoma State plane crash are entitled to more than $700,000 from the university and the NCAA, documents show.

The money is in addition to settlements made with the plane owner's insurance company and separate from a lawsuit filed on behalf of one of the families.

The families of the 10 men killed will gather in Colorado on Saturday to dedicate a memorial near the crash site. The small plane, one of three carrying OSU's basketball team home from a game against Colorado, crashed Jan. 27 in a snowy field.

Killed in the plane crash were players Nate Fleming and Daniel Lawson Jr., broadcast engineer Kendall Durfey, pilots Denver Mills and Bjorn Fahlstrom, media coordinator Will Hancock, athletic trainer Brian Luinstra, director of basketball operations Pat Noyes, KWTV sports director Bill Teegins and student assistant Jared Weiberg.

The plane crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The victims were covered under various insurance policies through the university, NCAA, state and federal agencies, university documents show.

Four victims who worked for the university _ Durfey, Hancock, Luinstra and Noyes _ had OSU life insurance coverage. The families received from $120,000 to $175,000 each.

OSU spokeswoman Natalea Watkins said the life insurance is based on four times the amount of their salaries.

The Luinstra, Weiberg, Fleming and Lawson families are entitled to $25,000 each under the NCAA's death benefit claims for athletic trainers and student athletes.

Fleming, Lawson and Weiberg also were covered under the NCAA's catastrophic insurance for $10,000 each.

Terms of the lawsuit against the plane's owner _ North Bay Charter _ the pilots and OSU are confidential.

Negotiations are continuing with the insurance company for the plane's owner, Richard Davis of California. He had a $20 million policy on the plane.

Four families have settled.

The Lawson family filed a tort claim against the university in June. The state Office of Risk Management has yet to rule on that claim.